High school students from Kodinsk successfully performed at the hydraulic unit modeling tournament

All three teams of the specialized RusHydro-class from the Center for Further Education in the city of Kodinsk became winners of the competition for assembling models of hydraulic turbines.

The tournament for future engineers was organized by the Corporate University of Hydropower (a branch of PJSC RusHydro). The tasks, which combined engineering, mathematical and even creative conditions, were completed by 30 teams from ten regions of Russia. The achievements of the Kodin children in studies and technical creativity were the result of many years of cooperation between the Center for Continuing Education and the Boguchanskaya Hydroelectric Power Station.

The main goal of the tournament was to create a working turbine model. Most teams chose a radial-axial type of impeller – the same as that of the hydraulic units of the Boguchanskaya HPP; less often they used rotary-blade and bucket devices. In the category “For the depth of engineering analysis,” participants received points for the efficiency of development and the quality of the video describing the project. The model of the Kodin team “Streichholzschachtel” was recognized as one of the best in terms of engineering development and implementation. In the “Non-Standard Solution” category, the “Water Wheel” team won, and in the “Technical Breakthrough” category, where models were judged by the speed of moving a standard load, one of the prizes was won by the “Kittens” team.

“Independent construction of models of real equipment is a way to turn theory from textbooks into living experience. Practical teamwork develops spatial thinking, logic, and the ability to convince colleagues of the proposed solution. At the tournament, schoolchildren looked for non-standard solutions and learned not to be afraid of mistakes. This is how they educate engineers who are capable of not only understanding how modern technology works, but also improving it,” said RusHydro-class curator Elena Verkhoturova.

Pupils of the RusHydro-class of the city of Kodinsk regularly become winners of competitions at various levels. In 2025, one of the schoolchildren won the regional stage of the All-Russian competition “#BrighterTogether”, three future power engineers participated in the RusHydro Summer Energy School. Five students of the Children's Children's Education Center successfully passed the competitive selection and in the fall attended the specialized session “Start Energy”, which worked at the All-Russian Children's Center “Ocean” (Vladivostok).

The Boguchanskaya HPP annually helps the Center for Continuing Education in updating furniture and purchasing modern equipment for study and creativity. In 2025, thanks to the station’s charitable and sponsorship program, the Center received a virtual reality class kit, and in 2026 it is planned to design and equip it with a special class of equipment for future power engineers. Employees of the Boguchanskaya HPP regularly conduct excursions to the station, competitions and intellectual tournaments for schoolchildren, helping them make an informed choice of their future profession.

RusHydro-class is one of the mechanisms for implementing the program for advanced development of human resources “From the New School to the Workplace”. The project has been implemented since 2010 in the regions where RusHydro Group operates on the basis of partner educational organizations. The goal of the project is vocational guidance for schoolchildren in grades 9-11, popularization of the energy profession, familiarization with the energy industry and the activities of the RusHydro Group, as well as support for students’ engineering and technical creativity. During the implementation of the project, 85% of graduates of Rus-Hydro-classes chose specialized areas of study at technical universities, in including at partner universities Tocompanies: MPEI, Volzhsky branch of MPEI, Sayano-Shushensky branch of Siberian Federal University, regularly undergo internships at power facilities Tocompanies. In 2025, all graduates of the specialized class from Kodinsk successfully entered universities on budget places.